So we're saying hosting the Olympics is a good thing because it was a kind of accidental stimulus for the economy? That kind of makes sense, if you believe that we couldn't have done more for the economy with the however many billions that are being spent on an event that lasts one month. As many articles have attested, most of the venues built for the Games don't pass the 'legacy test', meaning they will be useful to the wider community afterwards.

Sure, it put your brother in a job -- paid for largely by taxpayers. But spending so much to build sports venues that won't be much use after summer 2012 is a reckless way to plan an economy / infrastructure. Like lobbyists for the arms industry who claim that it's a vital part of the economy, there are more productive things people could be doing than building sports venues or weapons (which is actively destructive rather than productive). This is especially true when you consider things like toll bridges in Scotland, which have to be funded by the people who use them, and our extremely expensive railways, which could have used that money and benefited us all.

"Lottery funding for good causes is expected to rise from £1.3bn this year to £1.7bn in 2013/14 because the government will stop using the money to fund the London Olympics, according to John Penrose, the tourism and heritage minister."

I still can't get how they got away with this theft in the first place. For synchronised swimming.

There don't seem to be any good arguments that any recent Olympic city apart from Barcelona benefitted from legacy (apparently lots of people in Sydney benefitted re skills, but then they went off elsewhere to be consultants, with little benefit for Sydney itself), and that benefit was made largely from tourism, whereas other cities had already fulfilled their potential in this area. Otherwise, everything about 'stimulus' is incredibly vague and unconvincing. Allt he building work certainly created jobs in the short term, but seems reminiscent of Ireland's many huge building projects before it crashed - there's no use for them (apparently).

oh i see bangpuss you want to be a journalist, thats sweet. keep working hard and practicing and one day you can achieve your dreams. you seem to have the right blend of literal mindedness and deadwood prose. keep it up.